Testing the Wind, by Peter Ilgenfritz There are journeys in life we would never choose to take, but we do so anyway, because we know that our lives depend on our taking them. In a tippy little boat, on a tiny lake in downtown Seattle, I learned to sail. I discovered a practice that helped…

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Among the Remnants, by Josh Gortler When three-year-old Joshua Gortler and his family were forced from their hometown in Poland during World War II, they scrambled for safety across border after border, finding refuge at last in Europe’s Displaced Persons Camps. Undocumented and unschooled, Gortler spent his adolescence learning how to survive. When his family…

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How We Survive Here: Families Across Time by Claire Gebben

How We Survive Here (334 pages), is a memoir by Claire Gebben with letter translations by Angela Weber. In 2008, Claire Gebben’s relative from Freinsheim, Germany, came to the Pacific Northwest, bringing with her fifteen letters, dated 1841 to 1900. As the two begin translating the Old German Script, they become captivated by the stories. Via 19th-century…

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Wherever You Are: A Memoir of Love, Marriage and Brain Injury by Cynthia Lim

Wherever You Are (240 pages), by Cynthia Lim, is a memoir about the responsibilities of caregiving, redefining life with disability, and discovering the real truth of love and marriage. “I can’t get this story out of my head. It haunts me. It makes me wonder, Would I be that brave? That strong? That full of…

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Thirty Years a Dresser by Dennis Milam Bensie

Thirty Years a Dresser (216 pages) is a new memoir by Dennis Milam Bensie, sharing essays, anecdotes, and backstage antics from his years as a theatrical dresser. “The author writes in such a way that you feel you are backstage with him experiencing all he is and does. He is honest, funny and sometimes cutting. Thirty Years…

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